Pope Francis has met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of Palestine and/or the Palestinian National Authority, while canonising two Palestinian nuns. While Vatican sources say they have recognised the state of Palestine since the United Nations recognised it in 2012, this was the first time that an official document used the term “State of Palestine”. Some Christians and Jews are outraged at reports that the Pope allegedly called Abbas, who is also the chairman of the sometime terrorist Palestine Liberation Organisation, an “angel of peace”; in fact, Francis’ words were: “May the angel of peace destroy the evil spirit of war. I thought of you: may you be an angel of peace.”
The Republic of Ireland has rejected a Bill that would have removed a clause in Irish abortion law that upholds the unborn child’s right to life. The clause is seen as the ultimate protection for unborn babies after abortion was declared legal in the country in 2013 at any stage if the mother’s life is in danger (though controversially, this includes threats of suicide, and no medical evidence is required to back up such threats). Another Bill to allow abortion in cases of severe life-limiting disability was rejected in February.
Meanwhile, part of a Bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, to ban abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation because medical evidence shows that babies can feel pain after that point, has been described as “disgraceful” by President Obama’s official spokesman. The part at issue is an exception to the Bill which allows abortions past the 20 week limit for rape or incest victims, but only if the rape or incest is reported to a law enforcement agency first, and only if the women undergo counselling or medical treatment for the rape somewhere other than an abortion clinic within 48 hours of the abortion. The exception has already been broadened so that only women under the age of consent are required to report the rape or incest to law enforcement, but this is apparently not enough to satisfy the President.
Also, a pro-life march of 25,000 people to the Canadian parliament was briefly disrupted by a counter-demonstration and four screaming topless female protesters. Although some people argue that abortion is a non-party-political issue, the protesters seemed to disagree because many were flying hammer-and-sickle flags.
The Southern Baptist Church in the USA has (finally) voted to open their ranks to missionaries who speak in tongues. Although “speaking in tongues” ceased to be controversial in most church denominations in the 1970s or 80s, the Southern Baptists banned tongue-speakers from being missionaries only 10 years ago. But their missionaries are facing increasing competition from Pentecostal groups. A statement on their website said they would still “end employment for any missionary who places persistent emphasis on any specific gift of the Spirit as normative for all or to the extent such emphasis becomes disruptive."
In the UK, Aberystwyth University has banned the Bible from being placed in student halls of residence after a poll declared it “inappropriate for a multi-cultural university.” However, the poll (which was conducted by the Student Union) has been criticised for attracting only 5% of eligible voters.
MPs in France are to vote on a proposal to make supermarkets hand over all unsold food to charities. Many supermarkets already do this voluntarily, but neighbouring Belgium has already passed a similar law. There are also proposals by the European Union to scrap “best before" dates on dry foods such as coffee, rice, pasta, jams and pickles to reduce food waste.
In legal news, a driver who was caught doing 101 mph in Wales decided to challenge his conviction legally in any way he could; he questioned whether the police speed camera had indeed registered his car, and also queried the accuracy of the camera. He now wishes he hadn’t done so, because after the police hired an airfield and an Audi R8 to test the accuracy of their camera, the judge found him guilty; fined him ₤675 with six points on his licence; and ordered him to pay the full prosecution costs, including the costs of the test, which came to ₤10,384.
In technology news, a well-known computer hacker has been charged by the FBI with hacking into the flight control systems of a plane, via the at-seat entertainment system. He boasted via Twitter that he had hacked the system enough to cause the oxygen masks to drop down, but the FBI claim (based on interviews with him) that he also monitored air traffic and at one point caused the plane to climb. It’s unclear whether he actually did cause the plane to climb or just believed he had. United Airlines, on which the incident took place, have now set up a “white hat” hacking competition with a prize for the best hack of their corporate network – but no prizes on offer for hacking any in-flight systems.
And finally, the recent refugee crisis, in which boatloads of Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar (Burma) are being denied entry to neighbouring countries, has seen at least one major act of generosity. The human traffickers are now demanding ransoms of $200 per person just to return them to Myanmar, and a Muslim businessman in the country has already paid this bounty to rescue several people. He said, “Money is nothing for me in front of human life.”
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